Safe Exit

Safe Exit is a lightweight tool that promises to ensure you don't lose any work by accidentally shutting down the machine without saving your progress. Why need it when the operating system already does that? Safe Exit is not taking over the shutdown mechanic the OS has in place, it simply gives the user more control over processes, applications, or documents that may slip around the default shutdown barrier.

Creating a user account is your first task. This shouldn't be a complicated step, but the application seems to ask for credentials each time the app is executed. An ever greater annoyance resides with forgetting the accounts details. If you lose or don't remember the login information, you may block yourself out of the app, as it seems to limit the accounts number to one per machine. In short, treat creating the account with caution.

Once logged in, a two-tone interface resembling a simplistic Task Manager will become accessible in the System Tray. All running processes should be found within the list. All one has to do to ensure their work isn't tragically undone is to select the specific process — be that a document or anything with a save button — and move it to the empty, green list.

Now, what Safe Exit does is simple. As long as there is even one process in the green list, a prompt will prevent any form of a shutdown, manual, or scheduled task. A power surge or pulling the cord out are not events the app can work with, so manual saving is still the best way to go.

To summarize, Safe Exit is not an alternative for what the OS can already do, but more of an enhancement, an additional layer of security. The account creation process can be a real nuisance if you don't pay attention to it, but overall, an intutive and straightforward tool is what you get.